1. For those that have never heard of you before, can you tell us a little bit about the band?
Aeonian Sorrow is a melodic doom / funeral metal band formed in September of 2015 by Greek, Colombian and Finnish musicians like Saku Moilanen (Red Moon Architect), Alejandro Lotero (Exgenesis), Taneli Jämsä (Ghost Voyage, Red MoonArchitect), Pyry Hanski (Mörbid Vomit, Before the Dawn etc.) and me of course (Luna Obscura, guest singer of Clouds). After spending together enough time working on several songs, in October 20, 2017 our first digital single released under the name “Forever Misery” and few months later we revealed the title of our debut “Into the Eternity A Moment We Are”. This work has scheduled to see the daylight on 28th of March (digitally) and 11th of April (physically).
2. You have your first album coming out this year, how would you describe the musical sound that is presented on the recording?
It’s depressing, sorrowful, very doom, very funeral but still enough melodic with a quite interesting combination of female clean vocals and male growls. It has many elements that fans are going to love but I can’t say that it’s an album for all kind of tastes and ears.
3. What are some of the lyrical topics and subjects the band explores with the music?
This album is about the eternal suffering of a man or people who live in a world that everything and everyone they knew have gone, either by death or general parting, but somehow cannot be forgotten. The lyrics are enough messy and chaotic in order to not give an end and that’s because this is how someone feels when he has buried himself into sorrow or other unbearable situations and not let it go. It’s totally hopeless but I have a feeling that the fans of Doom Metal music and hopefully not only are going to appreciate it a lot.
4. What is the meaning and inspiration behind the name “Aeonian Sorrow”?
Well I was trying to find words to describe the band and our depressing/hopeless atmosphere but I was also looking for a name that would bring some kind of character as well. I came up with an idea of using Greek and English as I’m Greek myself so the first word of our name comes from the greek word “Aionios” which means “Eternal”. There is also a kind of spiritual/gnostic concept behind the whole thing that you can clearly hear from the moment you get deeper into the music. However is far away from religious and all that stuff but we are definitely exploring things around either with the lyrics or the vocals in order to bring strong moments. We’ve got very nice feedback about it plus for the logo as well which is really nice to know.
5. The band is based in both Finland and Greece, how does this work out in the recording process?
The recording process is fine, we always do what we have to do being together in the same room or not. But what’s not easy is the aftermath and the time we have to spend through social networks talking about all the details, modifications regarding the mixing. That’s the exhausting part that most of the bands nowadays are facing but in the end we manage to solve all matters. For sure on the next album we are going to meet more often because its way easier and faster to work like this. I personally feel very grateful for having such musicians and great people to work with and I’m definitely looking forward to do more music with them.
6. Has the band done any live shows yet?
We have our very first gig coming on June 2 in Belgium alongside The Wounded, The Prophecy, Darkher, Abigail and Kaunis Kuolematon. We also plan to make a mini tour in Europe with other two bands and that’s probably going to happen around October – November but we cannot say anything yet until it’s officially announced.
7. Currently you are unsigned, are you looking for a label or have received any interest?
We’ve got several offers from labels worldwide and I must admit that they keep coming. This is definitely great to watch, however I don’t really believe that labels nowadays are worth to try. Very few people care about the music, very few people know well how to promote you without using your band like a puppet and I personally want to stay away from the circle of unfortunate situations and misunderstandings. We for now are lucky enough to have a great team behind us, people that are helping with everything we need or not need so I don’t see it possible to leave that any time soon for something else. However, having a booking agency for the gigs might be necessary in the near future and this is what we’re trying to find.
8. On a worldwide level how has the feedback been to your music by fans of doom and death metal?
Amazingly good and unexpected for a newcomer. I only hope to see the same enthusiasm and response with the album as well but having a first record like this, makes me feel very proud already.
9. What is going on with some of the other bands or musical projects these days that some of the band members are a part of?
Red Moon Architect are about to write a new record and as a big fan I am, really looking forward to listen what Saku has in mind. Our bass player Pyry is always very active with gigs as he’s playing with several bands and I think he had some gigs recently with Mörbid Vomit. Taneli as well is going to be on tour in Japan with Frosttide and other bands and he’s already excited about it. Alejandro is recording the next album for Exgenesis but for now I know that is going very slowly and as for me I’m working on Clouds new album and doing some lyrics and guest vocals again and on 6th of May we are going to play in Rome alongside In Mourning and Antarktis. Very busy year for all of us but luckily it doesn’t affect the plans for Aeonian Sorrow as we always have our alternatives and support.
10. Where do you see the band heading into musically during the future?
For sure this year we are going to be very much occupied with the release of the album, we have to make some videoclips, play gigs around Europe and do all the rest of the gigs we have planned. But next autumn we are going back at the making of the second album as we have already enough ideas to continue. No doubt that our sound will remain at same level as it is now and will take things from where the first album stopped.
11. What are some of the bands or musical styles that have had an influence on your music and also what are you listening to nowadays?
To be honest when I write music, I don’t really like to listen other bands that time as its 90% sure that I’m not going to compose anything unique. So I prefer taking a break from it and hear my thoughts only. There is so much chaos inside my head that I find the process more interesting than being influenced from something else. However people can always compare our style with other doom metal bands, especially with those few having female vocals, which it’s normal but at the same time not because everyone is different. I haven’t seen online comparisons, at least not yet and this is great because it means that we have already our own style. About what I listen nowadays, I’d say that I’m very much stuck with post rock music and I don’t even know how many bands I discovered through other bands. I also liked the new album of Hamferd which in my opinion is one of the best releases of 2018.
12. What are some of your non musical interests?
I work as graphic designer for over a decade so I can say that every form of Art is what keeps me interested. I’m also into films a lot, reading and pc/video games. I know the last one is not very common for a woman but for me it’s very relaxing.
13. Before we wrap up this interview, do you have any final words or thoughts?
I’d like to thank you of course for giving me the chance to talk about Aeonian Sorrow and our plans in general. And I also want to invite people to check our album “Into The Eternity A Moment We Are”. Let the music speak in your hearts, feel its sorrow and join us in a beautiful journey of melancholy and despair. If you want to support the band, you can visit our store at www.aeoniansorrow.com/merch
